19 April

“Aviation is in our DNA” Safety and Growth – the double helix.

Last week the boots was enjoying the wilds of New Zealand – up the Dart River by Jetboat and then across to Milford Sound (the hard way driving). Both these opportunities gave time to reflect on how truly beautiful and precious our country is. It was also interesting being a customer as opposed to participant in the tourism industry. Being a keen observer of all matters in the “deep south” it was interesting to observe the industry going about its business. The customer service was excellent in every respect. The facilities at Milford Sound are excellent – they put the Auckland ferry terminals to shame. The knowledge and the way it is communicated was insightful even for a kiwi who has 'been there and done that'. Worst part of the trip - driving the 300ks there and back to Milford– flying is definitely the way to go!!!!!

Its official New Zealand now has two seasons – the big dry and the big wet. Metservice in a very interesting update this week concluded we’ve skipped autumn and slid straight into winter.

CAA organisation – with names click here and here and here. While a number of vacancies appear on the organisational chart we understand most if not all positions are under offer. It’s really pleasing to see the strengthening of the Rotary group under Steve Kern. In saying that we must also acknowledge the retirement at the end of this month of Ted Hawker.

Also retiring at the end of May is Merv Falconer who’s been the manager of fixed wing GA longer than we can remember. We really wish Ted and Merv well, and thank them both for the guidance and support they have provided to many in industry over a long time. We feel certain that neither of these gentlemen will be off the aviation scene for very long.

The work and role of the Medical convenor click here – this role is a statutory position, independent of the CAA with a role to review decisions. It was established post the 2002/03 medical 1% debate. Over the period 2009/2012 there has been 60 cases taken to the Convenor; 58 were reviewed; 57 upheld the decision of the Director and one decision was amended. Total cost around $75K.

Industry in proposing the Convenor role saw it as a person who could provide some “independence” of review short of taking the matter to the District court where the delays in hearing could be upwards of two years. The question that must be asked – and we would appreciate your views – is the Convenor of value in the medical system? We now have our doubts in part because the system has matured – i.e. it was a useful avenue when there was significant change but time has moved on.

From the boots’ perspective the issue is now more around policy and how to effect change. It was interesting to review some recent recommendations of the expert advisors used by the FAA click here to bring about change.

SMS update - the previous prescriptive rules based approach consulted through with Industry is likely to be replaced with a risk based approach and transitional period. We understand it will cover all aspects of commercial aviation – we don’t see how New Zealand can comply with ICAO requirements for a “state” safety plan, if you exclude aspects of adventure aviation. SMS is about being safe which is always smart when doing business.

HSE update – the government’s taskforce on HSE reports very shortly. We’ve been making a case for one system of safety – not two as we presently have. Our case is not that HSE should prevail over CA legislation or vice versa, but simply that there should be one competent specialised regulator for all aviation Part 12 reportable matters. This differs from the present nonsense definition of “on blocks”.

5 most wanted – its really pleasing to see the more meaningful safety information data coming out of the CAA. For the helicopter community the information is excellent and if you’re not aware of it contact John Sinclair the EO for NZHA. CAA advise for the first time they now have some really meaningful data emerging for the fixed wing 135 community. Its not quite there yet but we plan to hold a workshop at conference in Dunedin. We will be discussing the data and plan a strategy going forward.

Rule making changes – the MOT has indicated they are very interested in presenting an overview to industry of how the new rule making process will work, along with the deployment of a wider range of tools to address issues. This could be the start of some revolutionary change in this area.

CA Act overhaul - MOT will be leading the consultation on this and again see the Conference as a good opportunity to brief industry and exchange ideas.

Pilot training – MOE have advised that present policy settings can only be changed with hard data and consider the Industry should develop a five year forward looking manpower plan. This is a pretty big ask particularly as the environment is so unstable. For example, ICAO has recently mandated 65 as the retirement age. If this applies to our pilot community then that increases exits at the top significantly. An assumption on numbers in the bottom will inevitably be wrong. What we do know at the present time, and we are very confident of this, is that we are not training enough pilots. Within the next year or two we will be producing around 100 less fixed wing pilots than the long term average of 200. The situation with helicopter pilots is far more serious. We’d like to use the conference in Dunedin, in conjunction with the RNZAF, to promote aviation careers as we think this is a good way of getting our message out.

It is interesting in context to see some of the stories coming out of the WATS Conference for Aviation Training Professionals this week in Florida - severe pilot shortages by 2031 and needs to excite many more young people to make a career in aviation, improve selection procedures to reduce failures, improve exam success rates and use more scenario training. click here

We are doing more work on the international branding of the Aviation industry. Material developed for Heli-Expo in Las Vegas worked well and we are doing some more work leading up to the Indonesia mission next month.

Much of this is about raising the profile and perception of the industry both in New Zealand and some international markets. It reaffirms the important role we all play in ensuring the safety and quality of the sector in New Zealand.

The developing airport fit-out group had another meeting last week. We’ve agreed to list all the processes an airport goes through, from developing a master plan through to being fully functional, and then identifying New Zealand capability against each step. Some real industry champions are helping in this work. As we get into identifying capability, we’ll be working back into the Supplies and Services Division, and looking to add new members.

The aim is to come up with a complete understanding of the New Zealand airports offer, and to package it for domestic and international audiences. The companies involved so far see real value in working together, collectively developing promotional material and targeting the advisory sector in a way that hasn’t been possible. We’ll be able to use the product knowledge to inform the advisors, architects and contractors about the breadth of capability that exists in New Zealand.

We are working on this, for example, with AECOM in Auckland. This company secured stage 1 of the US$64m World Bank funded project in Kiribati, Tonga and Tuvalu which should see further commercial benefits flowing to New Zealand. There is another similarly sized project coming for Samoa, the Solomons and Vanuatu. We also know that the material being developed can be used in other overseas markets.

We’ll be talking about branding and work in the airports (and advisory) sectors at conference and, more importantly, showing you the material to be available.

If you are exporting to the United States and experiencing a good increase in sales, you might consider applying for recognition in the American Chamber of Commerce - DHL Express success and innovation awards. click here

Aviation is in our DNA

Red boots

Conference 2013

Nominations called for – AIA awards. Each year the AIA makes two awards: to an individual in recognition of their long service to the industry; and to a company for their outstanding contribution. If you know anyone or company who might meet these requirements please feel free to nominate by emailing admin1@aia.org.nz